PSG's Warren Zaire-Emery has been called up by Zinedine Zidane for France's matches against Turkey, Belgium and Italy. Zidane says he wants him in midfield.
Zinedine Zidane unveiled his first list on Friday as coach of the France national team. The Blues coach called up Warren Zaïre-Emery and has already messaged the PSG player.
Of the six midfielders Zidane retained for the first international break of the season, four played in the World Cup this summer.
Adrien Rabiot, Manu Kone, Rayan Cherki, and Warren Zaire-Emery were all called up for the Blues' first matches under their new coach against Turkey, Belgium, and Italy.
Zidane also discussed the call-up of Warren Zaire-Emery in a press conference, a few minutes after the announcement of his list Friday night at the FFF headquarters in Paris.
"If I put him in midfield, it is because I want to see him in midfield," Zizou immediately ruled out, brushing aside the idea of seeing the PSG player play right back in the Blues' upcoming matches. While Luis Enrique and Didier Deschamps often used the boy's versatility to play him on the right, during the World Cup he played in midfield every time he was on the field (against Morocco and England).
If the Zaire-Emery case monopolized some of the attention, certain absences also stood out. On Friday night, Zinedine Zidane decided to leave out Lucas Digne, Lucas Hernandez, and Maghnes Akliouche, the three Parisians who played in the World Cup this summer under Didier Deschamps.
"That is how it is; I made the choice to take new players," the coach said. "I do not want to leave anyone in the stands," he concluded during the press conference, insisting he wanted to keep only twenty field players.
Earlier in the day, Luis Enrique had also discussed this international break. "A lot of players are going to stay. Each player will have individual training sessions," explained the Parisian coach.
As a reminder, the break for the France national team will run from Monday, Sept. 21 to Monday, Sept. 5, inclusive. PSG will resume competition on Saturday, Oct. 10, against Le Mans (6th matchday of Ligue 1).
Frankly, France’s midfield has needed a renewal for some time now. There are some players who were undroppable for Deschamps, such as Adrien Rabiot, who, although he was key to his coach’s system, was neither the most talented nor the most efficient, at least considering the potential of other young players who were left on the bench, as is the case with Zaire-Emery.
With Zaire-Emery taking this step forward, people will likely start to realize his value and how important he has been to PSG’s success in recent years.
